More like dinner or a movie! Did anyone go to the movies over the weekend? If so, you noticed that the easiest date in the book is being destroyed by the "Cameron 3-D Trickle Down Effect". Due to the success of Avatar, more studios are rushing to put our 3-D features, which cost more to make, but also cost the moviegoer more at the box office. Starting Friday, the theater chains really decided to cash in by going up on the cost of admission, taking astronomical prices further into the cosmos. If you're in Times Square and trying to catch a new 3-D feature, it's going to cost you just about $20!

Are you serious, I'm going to pay $20 for a movie when every bootlegger named Black on the block has it for $5? The price of 2-D movies went up about 4%, so you'll be paying somewhere between .40 and .50 more for your regular date movie. Let me figure this out, $11.50 per ticket ($23), popcorn and drinks ($12) all after a $52 dinner and $12 dollar tip, ($64), that's $100 all day for what seemed like $40 date a few years ago. I've been going to matinees for the last four or five years, but that's closing in on the $10 mark, guess I'll be planning before I got to the movies, movie hopping is a must at these costs! I don't know about you, but Chinese and a double-feature from my DVD collection sounds like my Friday nights for the foreseeable future.

Conversely, maybe this is a sign that the bounce-back of the economy is picking up steam, as more folks are willing to spend more money to be entertained. Nah, more like good old-fashioned greed and trying to cash in on a trend, watch for 3-D movies at an alarming pace in the coming months. There's even talk of films being re-released in 3-D to cash in, can you imagine "Precious" in 3-D? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit…